Google now "paranoid" about security

Google is now "paranoid" about security, chief executive Eric Schmidt is reported to have told an assembled bunch of 400 chief information officers at an all day event in Mountain View yesterday.

Speaking at its inaugural Atmosphere 2010 event, Schmidt is reported to have explained that the web giant learned some hard lessons from its recent brush with Chinese hackers.

It is widely believed that the hackers gained initial access to an employee's computer via a flaw in Internet Explorer 6, from which point they managed to infiltrate deeper into Google's systems.

So what does this all mean for the security or otherwise of Google's products? Well, in a strange way the hack will probably end up being good news for the web giant's customers.

Schmidt argued that the firm has since accelerated its plans to use more of its own web-based products and services internally, such as the Chrome OS. These are "inherently more secure" than the alternatives out there, he added. Over to you, Microsoft.